Automatically Generating Turns on an Agricultural Work Machine Based Upon Field Geometry

The present application is a continuation of and claims priority U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/350,230, filed Jul. 11, 2023, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present description relates to agricultural machines. More specifically, the present description relates to generating automatic turns when navigating an agricultural machine through a field.

There are a wide variety of different types of agricultural machines. Some such machines include tillage machines, planting machines, harvesters, sprayers or other application equipment, among others.

Some agricultural machines have automated guidance systems that navigate the agricultural machines along guidance lines as the machine travels through a field. A guidance line may be obtained or generated by a guidance system on the agricultural machine. The guidance line may identify a set of points that are geographically located on the field and define a path that the guidance system is to follow. The guidance system navigates the agricultural machine along the path defined by the guidance line.

The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An agricultural machine includes a turn generation system that identifies a turn start point and a turn end point that indicate the starting point and ending point, respectively, of a turn that the agricultural machine will make to transition from a current pass to a subsequent pass through a field. The guidance system identifies a turn path contour corresponding to a boundary of a headland area and projects that contour onto the headland area of the field. The turn generation system generates a turn path based upon the turn starting and ending points and the turn path contour.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in the background.

As discussed above, there are many different types of agricultural machines. These agricultural machines often make headland turns at the end of passes through a field. Some such agricultural machines have automated navigation systems that automatically navigate the machine through a headland turn, from a current pass through the field to a next pass through the field. However, this can be problematic in certain ways.

In, a fieldhas a headland portionwhere crop has already been harvested adjacent the external periphery or boundaryof field, and a standing crop portion (or primary planted area)where crop is still standing and has yet to be harvested. In order to harvest the headland portionof field, harvesterhas illustratively made two passes through headland. In making those passes, harvesterfollowed the peripheral boundaryof field, thus generating the contour of the boundarybetween the standing crop portionof fieldand headland. That is, the boundary(between headlandand the standing crop portion) and the peripheral boundaryof fieldare congruent and thus follow the same contour (or curvature).

The lines on standing crop portionare guidance lines which define passes through field portionthat harvestercan make in order to harvest the standing crop in field portion.shows that harvesterhas finished a passthrough fieldand is making a headland turn to commence a next subsequent passthrough field. In one example, in order to address logistical concerns and accommodate the turning radius limitations of harvester, harvestermay skip any number of guidance lines between a current pass (inrepresented by guidance line) and a next subsequent pass (inrepresented by guidance line).

Harvesterhas an automation system that automatically calculates a route for a headland turn. The route identifies the end pointof the current passand the start pointof a next subsequent pass defined by guidance line. It can be seen that harvesteris skipping three guidance lines between passesand. The automation system generates the route for the headland turn as a straight line defined by pathbetween the endpointof passand the start pointof passplus transitionsand. However, because of the contour of the boundarybetween headland areaand standing crop in the field, the headerof harvesterwill cross that boundaryif harvesterfollows the pathdefined for the headland turn.

also shows that the automation system on harvesterhas plotted a straight pathbetween the end pointof passand the start pointof passwith transitionsand. However, because the external field boundaryof fieldis contoured inwardly into the field, the headerof harvesterwill cross the boundaryat pointif harvesterfollows the automatically generated path.

Thus, the present description describes a system that automatically copies the contour of the boundarybetween the headlandand standing crop regionof fieldand projects that contour into the headland area, and uses that projected contour to generate the headland turn so that harvesterdoes not cross either the peripheral boundaryof field or the standing crop boundary.shows one example.is similar to, and similar items are similarly numbered. However, in, instead of the headland turn being generated using a straight path (such asshown in) the present system identifies the contour of boundaryand projects that contour into the headland areain the direction indicated by arrowsandand then connects the projected contourto the endpointof the previous passand the start pointof the next passwith transition sections. This path, connected to endpointand start point, is the path that defines the headland turn for harvester. In this way, harvesterwill generally follow the contour of boundaryto make the headland turn and thus remain fully within the headland portionof field, without crossing boundariesor.

is a partial pictorial, partial schematic, illustration of a mobile agricultural machine, in an example where mobile machineis an agricultural harvester (also referred to as mobile agricultural machineor harvester). It can be seen inthat mobile agricultural machineillustratively includes an operator compartment, which can have avariety of different operator interface mechanisms for controlling agricultural harvester. Operator compartmentcan include one or more operator interface mechanisms that allow an operator to control and manipulate agricultural harvester. The operator interface mechanisms in operator compartmentcan be any of a wide variety of different types of mechanisms. For instance, the mechanisms can include one or more input mechanisms such as steering wheels, levers, joysticks, buttons, pedals, switches, etc. In addition, operator compartmentmay include one or more operator interface display devices, such as monitors, or mobile devices that are supported within operator compartment. In that case, the operator interface mechanisms can also include one or more user actuatable elements displayed on the display devices, such as icons, links, buttons, etc. The operator interface mechanisms can include one or more microphones where speech recognition is provided on agricultural harvester. The operator interface mechanisms can also include one or more audio interface mechanisms (such as speakers), one or more haptic interface mechanisms or a wide variety of other operator interface mechanisms. The operator interface mechanisms can include other output mechanisms as well, such as dials, gauges, meter outputs, lights, audible or visual alerts or haptic outputs, etc., and other input mechanisms as well.

Agricultural harvesterincludes a set of front-end machines forming a cutting platformthat includes a headerhaving a cutter generally indicated at. Harvestercan also include a feeder house, a feed accelerator, and a thresher generally indicated at. Thresherillustratively includes a threshing rotorand a set of concaves. Further, agricultural harvestercan include a separatorthat includes a separator rotor. Agricultural harvestercan include a cleaning subsystem (or cleaning shoe)that, itself, can include a cleaning fan, a chafferand a sieve. The material handling subsystem in agricultural harvestercan include (in addition to a feeder houseand feed accelerator) discharge beater, tailings elevator, and clean grain elevator(that moves clean grain into clean grain tank). Agricultural harvesteralso includes a material transport subsystem that includes unloading auger, chute, spout, and can include one or more actuators that actuate movement of chuteor spout, or both, such that spoutcan be positioned over an area in which grain is to be deposited. In operation, augercauses grain from grain tankto be conveyed through chuteand out of spout. Agricultural harvestercan further include a residue subsystemthat can include chopperand spreader. Agricultural harvestercan also have a propulsion subsystem that includes an engine (or other power source) that drives ground engaging elements(such as wheels, tracks, etc.). It will be noted that agricultural harvestercan also have more than one of any of the subsystems mentioned above (such as left and right cleaning shoes, separators, etc.).

As shown in, headerhas a main frameand an attachment frame. Headeris attached to feeder houseby an attachment mechanism on attachment frame that cooperates with an attachment mechanism on feeder house. Main framesupports cutterand reeland is movable relative to attachment frame, such as by an actuator (not shown). Additionally, attachment frameis movable, by operation of actuator, to controllably adjust the position of cutting platformrelative to the surface (e.g., field) over which agricultural harvestertravels in the direction indicated by arrow, and thus controllably adjust a position of headerrelative to the surface. In one example, main frame and attachment framecan be raised and lowered together to set a height of cutterabove the surface over which agricultural harvesteris traveling. In another example, main framecan be tilted relative to attachment frameto adjust a tilt angle with which cutterengages the crop on the surface. Also, in one example, main framecan be rotated or otherwise moveable relative to attachment frameto improve ground following performance. In this way, the roll, pitch, and/or yaw of the header relative to the agricultural surface can be controllably adjusted. The movement of main frametogether with attachment framecan be driven by actuators (such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical, electromechanical, or electrical actuators, as well as various other actuators) based on operator inputs or automated inputs.

In operation, and by way of overview, the height of headeris set and agricultural harvesterillustratively moves over a field in the direction indicated by arrow. As harvestermoves, headerengages the crop to be harvested and gathers the crop towards cutter. After it is cut, the crop can be engaged by reelthat moves the crop to a feeding system. The feeding system moves the crop to the center of headerand then through a center feeding system in feeder housetoward feed accelerator, which accelerates the crop into thresher. The crop is then threshed by rotorrotating the crop against concaves. The threshed crop is moved by a separator rotor in separatorwhere some of the residue is moved by discharge beatertoward a residue subsystem. The residue can be chopped by a residue chopperand spread on the field by spreader. In other implementations, the residue is simply dropped in a windrow, instead of being chopped and spread.

Grain falls to cleaning shoe (or cleaning subsystem). Chafferseparates some of the larger material from the grain, and sieveseparates some of the finer material from the clean grain. Clean grain falls to an auger in clean grain elevator, which moves the clean grain upward and deposits the clean grain in clean grain tank. Residue can be removed from the cleaning shoeby airflow generated by cleaning fan. That residue can also be moved rearwardly in harvestertoward the residue handling subsystem.

Tailings can be moved by tailings elevatorback to thresherwhere the tailings can be re-threshed. Alternatively, the tailings can also be passed to a separate re-threshing mechanism (also using a tailings elevator or another transport mechanism) where the tailings can be re-threshed as well.

also shows that, in one example, agricultural harvestercan include a variety of sensors, some of which are illustratively shown. For example, harvestercan include ground speed sensors, one or more separator loss sensors, a fill level sensor, one or more cleaning shoe loss sensors, one or more perception systems(e.g., forward-looking systems, such as a camera, lidar, radar, etc., an imaging system such as a camera, as well as various other perception systems), and one or more material spill sensors. Ground speed sensorillustratively senses the travel speed of harvesterover the ground. Sensing ground speed can be done by sensing the speed of rotation of ground engaging elements, the drive shaft, the axle, or various other components. The travel speed can also be sensed by a positioning system, such as a global positioning system (GPS), a cellular triangulation system, a dead-reckoning system, or a wide variety of other systems or sensors that provide an indication of travel speed. Perception systemis mounted to and illustratively senses the field (and characteristics thereof) in front of and/or around (e.g., to the sides, behind, etc.) agricultural harvester(relative to direction of travel) and generates sensor signal(s) (e.g., an image) indicative of those characteristics. For example, perception systemcan generate a sensor signal indicative of agricultural characteristics in the field ahead of and/or around agricultural harvester. While shown in a specific location in, it will be noted that perception systemcan be mounted to various locations on agricultural harvesterand is not limited to the depiction shown in. Additionally, while only one perception systemis illustrated, it will be noted that agricultural harvestercan include any number of perception systems, mounted to any number of locations within agricultural harvester, and configured to view any number of directions around agricultural harvester.

Cleaning shoe loss sensorsillustratively provide an output signal indicative of the quantity of grain loss by both the right and left sides of the cleaning shoe. In one example, sensorsare strike sensors which count grain strikes per unit of time (or per unit of distance traveled) to provide an indication of the cleaning shoe grain loss. The strike sensors for the right and left sides of the cleaning shoe can provide individual signals, or a combined or aggregated signal. It will be noted that sensorscan comprise a single sensor as well, instead of separate sensors for each shoe.

Separator loss sensorsprovide signals indicative of grain loss in the left and right separators. The sensors associated with the left and right separators can provide separate grain loss signals or a combined or aggregate signal. Sensing loss can be done using a wide variety of different types of sensors as well. It will be noted that separator loss sensorsmay also comprise a single sensor, instead of separate left and right sensors.

Fill level sensorillustratively provides an output indicative of the fill level of the material receptacle or grain tank. Fill level sensorcan be any of a number of different types of sensors, such as an imaging system, an electromagnetic radiation sensor, a contact sensor, as well as various other types of sensors. Additionally, while only one fill level sensoris shown, in other examples agricultural harvestercan include more than one fill level sensor including multiple different fill level sensorsdisposed at multiple different locations.

It will be appreciated that agricultural harvestercan include a variety of other sensors not illustratively shown in. For instance, agricultural harvestercan include residue setting sensors that are configured to sense whether agricultural harvesteris configured to chop the residue, drop a windrow, etc. The sensors can include cleaning shoe fan speed sensors that can be configured proximate fanto sense the speed of the fan. They can include threshing clearance sensors that sense clearance between the rotorand concaves. They can include threshing rotor speed sensors that sense a rotor speed of rotor. They can include chaffer clearance sensors that sense the size of openings in chaffer. They can include sieve clearance sensors that sense the size of openings in sieve. The sensors can include material other than grain (MOG) moisture sensors that can be configured to sense the moisture level of the material other than grain that is passing through agricultural harvester. The sensors can include machine settings sensors that are configured to sense the various configured settings on agricultural harvester. The sensors can also include machine orientation sensors that can be any of a wide variety of different types of sensors that sense the orientation of agricultural harvester, and/or components thereof. The sensors can include crop property sensors that can sense a variety of different types of crop properties, such as crop type, crop moisture, and other crop properties. The crop property sensors can also be configured to sense characteristics of the crop as they are being processed by agricultural harvester. For instance, the crop property sensors can sense grain feed rate, as it travels through clean grain elevator. The crop property sensors can sense mass flow rate of grain through elevatoror provide other output signals indicative of other sensed variables. Agricultural harvestercan include soil property sensors that can sense a variety of different types of soil properties, including, but not limited to, soil type, soil compaction, soil moisture, soil structure, among others.

Some additional examples of the types of sensors that can be used are described below, including, but not limited to a variety of position sensors that can generate sensor signals indicative of a position (e.g., geographic location, orientation, elevation, etc.) of agricultural harvesteron the field over which agricultural harvestertravels or a position of various components of agricultural harvester(e.g., header) relative to, for example, the field over which agricultural harvestertravels.

is a block diagram of one example of an agricultural system. Agricultural systemshows that agricultural harvestermay be operated by an operator. In the example shown in, harvestermay also be connected to other systemsand other machinesover network. Other systemscan include remote server systems, farm manager systems, vendor or manufacturer systems, among others. Other machinescan include other harvesters, tender vehicles, etc. Networkcan be a wide area network, a local areanetwork, a near field communication network, a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth network, a cellular communication network, or any of a variety of other networks or combinations of networks.

Agricultural harvesterincludes one or more processors or servers, data store, one or more position sensors, operator interface system, communication system, turn generation system (or model), guidance system, one or more controllable subsystems, and any of a wide variety of other harvester functionality. Data storecan include maps, machine information (such as limits on how sharply the harvester can turn, the header width of the harvester, and other machine limitation and dimension information), a number of skipsthat is to be used when harvesting, a headland size, a contour path buffer size, and other information. It will be noted that, as discussed elsewhere herein, some of the information-may be entered by operatoror downloaded from another systemor another machineor sensed by sensors or obtained or derived in other ways.

Turn generation systemcan include turn start/end point identification system, contour identification system, contour projection system, transition identification system, start/end point conflict processor, transition conflict processor, turn generator (which, itself, can include fallback turn generator, path point generation system, extension generator, and other items), as well as other items.

Guidance systemcan include guidance line selector, guidance line following system, turn end point identifier, turn navigation system, and other functionality. Controllable subsystemscan include steering subsystem, propulsion subsystem, and any of a wide variety of other subsystems. Before describing the overall operation of agricultural harvesterin more detail, a description of some of the items in harvester, and their operation, will first be provided.

Communication systemallows communication of the items of harvesterwith one another, and also facilitates communication over network. Therefore, communication systemmay be a controller area network (CAN) bus and bus controller, and may include a wide area network communication system, a local area network communication system, a near field communication system, a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth communication system, a cellular communication system, or any of a wide variety of other communication systems or combinations of systems.

Mapsmay be maps of the field in which agricultural harvesteroperates. The maps may define the boundaries of the field, and may also include routes along which harvesternavigates in order to harvest the field. The maps may include any of a wide variety of other information as well. Machine informationmay include dimensional or other information about harvester. The dimensional information may include, for instance, the width of the header on harvester, and other information. Machine informationmay also indicatethe limitations on how sharply harvestercan turn, the rate at which the turning radius of harvestermay be manipulated, and other information. The number of skipsmay be the number of rows or passes that harvesterskips when making a headland turn during a harvesting operation. For instance, in order to effectively make a headland turn, harvestermay skip a number of passes or guidance lines when performing a harvesting operation. The number of skips may be a predefined number, or a number that varies dynamically. The number of skipsmay be input by operatoror downloaded from another systemor another machineor received in other ways.

The headland sizemay indicate the number of passes that harvestermakes in harvesting the headland portion of the field, the measurement of the headland portion, or another size indicator. The headland sizemay be automatically computed by using position sensorto sense the number of passes that harvestermakes during the harvesting operation, along with dimensions of harvester. The headland sizemay be generated from historical harvesting or planting data, or the headland size may be input by operator, or obtained in other ways.

Contour path bufferis a value which indicates, when harvesteris making a headland turn, how far harvestershould stay away from the boundarywhile traversing the headlands during the turn. In one example, the contour path buffer sizeis equal to half of the width of the header on harvesterso that, when making a headland turn, the header will not come into contact with any standing crop in the field. Again, the contour buffermay be input by operator, automatically calculated or downloaded for use by harvester, may be a default value or a predetermined value, or another value.

Position sensormay be a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver, a dead reckoning system, a cellular triangulation system, or any of a wide variety of other sensors or sensing systems that provide an indication of the position of agricultural harvesteron a global or local coordinate system. Sensormay also provide an output indicative of the heading, pose, route, or other position information corresponding to harvester. Thus, sensorcan include accelerometers, inertial measurement units, gyroscopic sensors, a compass, a speedometer, or other sensors that may be used in generating an input indicative of the position, heading, speed, pose, and/or other position information corresponding to harvester.

Operator interface systemincludes mechanisms that allow operatorto control and manipulate harvester. Thus, systemcan include levers, joysticks, a steering wheel, pedals, knobs, buttons, switches, linkages, a display screen, a microphone and speaker (where speech recognition and speech synthesis are provided), a touch screen (where touch gestures can be detected), user actuatable display elements such as icons, links, buttons, or other mechanisms that can be actuated by the operator. Operator interface systemcan include any of a wide variety of other mechanisms that can be used to generate and receive audio, visual, and/haptic outputs and/or inputs.

Turn generation systemreceives information indicative of a current guidance line that harvesteris following on a current pass through the field and an end point for that pass, as well as a start point for the next pass that harvesterwill make through the field, after making a headland turn. Turn generation systemthen projects the contour of the field boundary into the headlands and attempts to generate transitions that connect the end point of the current pass and the start point of the next pass to the projected contour. Therefore, turn start/end point identification systemidentifies the end points where the headland turn starts and ends and contour identification systemidentifies the contour of the boundaryof the headlands (which may derived from the outer boundaryor periphery of the field along the headlands, or from the inner boundarybetween the headlands and where standing crop is still present). Contour projection systemprojects the contour into a central portion of the headlands so that harvestercan follow that contour, while making a headland turn between the turn start point and the turn end point, and still remain fully within the headlands. Start/end point conflict processordetermines whether harvesteris capable of making turns sufficiently quickly to navigate the projected contour where that contour is currently projected. If not, this is deemed a conflict (as described in greater detail below) and the contour projection is moved to a different position within the headlands. Transition conflict processordetermines whether the transitions are in conflict with one another (again, as described in greater detail below) If so, the system generates a default turn (such as a keyhole turn).

When the projection is placed at a location within the headlandswhere there are no conflicts. then turn generatorgenerates the turn as a set of points that define a path that harvestercan follow to navigate the turn. Fallback turn generatoridentifies a fallback turn contour (such as a keyhole turn) where the contour of the boundary cannot successfully be followed without a conflict. Path point generation systemgenerates points along a path to define the turn and extension generatorgenerates extensions to the turn that can be used to connect the turn to transitions that are calculated from a current pass and to the next subsequent pass.

Guidance systemguides navigation of harvesterto follow the path defined by the points. Guidance line selectorselects a guidance line to follow in performing a pass through the field. Guidance line following systemcontrols the steering subsystemof harvesterso that harvesterfollows the selected guidance line to make a pass. Turn end point identifieridentifies the start and end points where harvesteris free to begin a turn form a current pass to make a headland turn (the turn start point) and where harvestermust be located when it completes the headland turn (turn end point) to begin the next subsequent pass. Turn navigation systemnavigates harvesterso harvesterfollows the path defined for the headland turn by turn generator.

Steering subsystemincludes functionality that can be used to steer harvester. Propulsion subsystemincludes things such as an engine or motors, along with any transmissions that are needed to propel harvester.

(collectively referred to herein as) show a flow diagram illustrating one example of the operation of harvesterin making a headland turn. It is first assumed that harvesterhas access to a turn generation system, as indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. In one example, turn generation systemis on a control system or other automation system on harvester. In another example, turn generation systemmay be on a remote server or other system, or on a different machine. In those examples, communication systemcommunicates with the other systemsor machinesto access turn generation system. These are just examples of how harvestercan have access to turn generation system.

Turn generation systemthen receives or otherwise accesses inputs that are used to generate the headland turn. Receiving or accessing the inputs is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The inputs may be sensor inputs or map inputs from any of a wide variety of sensors or sources of maps. Receiving sensor or map inputs is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The inputs may be operator inputs, or the inputs may be received in a wide variety of other ways.

In one example, the inputs include an indication of the guidance linesthat define the current pass that harvesteris making through the field as well as the next subsequent pass. The inputs can include limitations on how sharply harvestercan turn and the rate at which the turning radius of harvestercan be changed. Receiving inputs indicating limitations on the curvature and rate of curvature of steering machineis indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The inputs also illustratively include the contour (e.g., curvature) of boundary, as indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The contour of boundarymay be identified by contour identification systemas a set of coordinates identifying geographical points that are located along that boundaryand which define the boundary. The contour may be represented in other ways as well. Also, the contour may be received from a mapwhich shows the peripheral boundaryof field, in which case the boundarywill generally follow the contour of boundary. In another example, the contourmay be sensed as harvesterharvests the end rows in headland areaof field. The position sensormay generate a set of points that define contour, as harvesterharvests the headland area.

Also, the inputs to turn generation systemmay be the turn start pointand the turn end pointwhich also define the end of passand the beginning of pass, respectively. Those points may be obtained by turn start/end point identification system, by receiving information from guidance system. The start and end points may be received in other ways as well. Obtaining the turn start and end points will illustratively include obtaining a set of coordinates corresponding to each of those points as well as a harvester heading for harvesterwhen harvesterreaches those points. Obtaining the turn start and end points as a set of coordinates and a heading is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of.

The inputs to turn generation systemmay also include a contour path buffer value. The contour path buffer value defines a minimum distance that contour(referring to) should be projected away from boundary(e.g., in the direction generally indicated by arrowsand) so that, as harvestertravels along the path, it will not crossboundary. The contour path buffermay be initially set to half of the width of the header of harvester, or to a different size. The inputs to turn generation systemmay also include the size of headland(e.g., in terms of the number of passes that harvestermakes to harvest headland area, or defined in other ways). The headland size is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The input to turn generation systemmay also include the number of skips that harvesteris to make between passes. For instance, in, passis separated from the subsequent passby four guidance lines indicating that harvesterwill skip four guidance lines between passes. Receiving the number of skips is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of.

Contour projection systemthen projects the boundary contour (of boundary) onto the headland portionof field, as indicated by blockin the flow diagram of., for instance, shows one example of a boundarythat has a particular contour. The current passalso has an end point illustrated at(which is also the turn start point), and a turn end point(which is also the start point for the subsequent pass). In, the contour of boundary, represented by, is projected into the headland areaof fieldby a distance equal to the contour path buffer value. In the example illustrated in, the contour path buffer is set to one half of the working width of harvester(e.g., half the width of header). Spacing the contourfrom the boundaryby a distance equal to the contour path buffer value is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The projection of the boundary contour into the headlands can be done in other ways as well, as indicated by block.

Transition identification systemcalculates the transitionsand. Transitiondefines a route or path that harvestercan follow to transition from the current passto the projected contour. Transitiondefines a route or path that harvestercan follow to transition from projected contourto the next subsequent pass. The transitions can be calculated based on the limitations of harvesterin how sharply harvestercan turn and/or based on other criteria.

Transition identification systemalso calculates the transition start point, and the transition end point. Transition start pointidentifies the point at which harvester will need to begin turning in order to follow the transitionbetween pointand the contour. Transition end pointdefines the point where harvesterneeds to transition to (after following transitionfrom contour) so that harvesterwill be in a position to begin subsequent pass. Calculating the transition start point, the transition end point, and the transition routesand, are indicated by blockin the flow diagram of.

Start/end point conflict processorthen determines whether the transitionfrom the current passto the projected contourcan be made without conflicting with the end pointof pass, and also whether the transitionfrom the projected contourcan be made to the subsequent passwithout conflicting with the start pointof the next pass. It can be seenthat the transition start pointis before the turn start point(in the direction of travel of harvester), and similarly the transition end pointis after the turn end point(in the direction of travel of harvester) so that both the start and end points of the turn defined by contourand transitionsandare invalid. The first conflict withrespect to pointsandmeans that harvesterwill not finish pass(by reaching point) before it must begin the turn (at point). The second conflict between pointsandmeans that harvesterwill not be able to be in a position to start passat the proper point because harvesterwill not have finished the headland turn by that point. Determining whether such conflicts exist between the transitions to and from the projected contourand the start and end pointsandis indicated by blockin the flow diagram of.

If a conflict does exist, such as indicated in, then contour projection system increases the projection distance (increases the spacing of contourfrom boundaryin the direction indicated by arrowsand) to project the contourfurther away from boundaryin headland areaof field. Increasing the projection distance is indicated by blockin the flow diagram of. The distance by which the projection is increased May be a predetermined or default distance, or a dynamically determined distance, as indicated by block. The amount by which the projection is increased into the headland areaof field can be determined in other ways as well, as indicated by block.

shows an example in which the contourhas been projected further into headland areaalong arrowsand, from the boundary. The transitions are again calculated at blockand the transition start and end points are also again identified as pointsand, respectively. The start/end point conflict processoragain determines whether there is a conflict between the transition start pointand the turn start point, as well as whether there is a conflict between the transition end pointand the turn end point.